


Red

by Blondjjong



Category: SHINee
Genre: Canon Compliant, Jonghyun has Feelings, M/M, Slice of Life, Taemin is a hazard, it's pre press it era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 23:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blondjjong/pseuds/Blondjjong
Summary: Taemin and Jonghyun meet up in LA when their schedules happen to align.





	Red

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it with re-editing and re-posting my works,,,,,

Taemin is the first and most welcome sight Jonghyun registers when he touches down in Los Angeles. The palm trees and sunshine, which are framed by the concrete and steel that surrounds LAX, are a warm compliment to the sheer brightness that is Taemin. Hair long and black, frames his face, making his cheeks seem just a little bit less chubby than they actually are. Jonghyun doesn’t need to see Taemin’s eyes, under the dark lenses of his sunglasses, to know they’ve turned to crescents with the brightness of his smile.  
  
“Welcome to ‘Merica hyung.”

Taemin throws his arms around Jonghyun’s small waist the moment the older is through the gate, nearly knocking them both over. The laughter that breaks from Jonghyun as his arms wrap around Taemin’s shoulders, gets lost under the heavily accented, and regionally characterized english Taemin speaks in an embarrassingly loud voice. The press of Taemin’s warm, slender frame against Jonghyun's own skips Jonghyun’s heart quick against his ribcage. Taemin’s lips are curled so wide, as he pulls back from his hyung’s embrace, that the corners of his lips are near touching the blocky edges of his sunglasses, his joy shamelessly uncontained.

Taemin’s nose is pink with overexposure to the LA sun, the beauty mark on the bridge of it lost in a soft peppering of freckles. Freckles that would be overlooked were Jonghyun not so close. Taemin's hair is riddled with flyaways, frizzed, his clothes rumpled, and Jonghyun can’t help but agree with the large swell of his heart in his chest; There’s never been a more welcome sight.

Jonghyun lets out the most undignified of squaks as Taemin near skips away from him, having to scramble to grab his carry on so as not to loose the younger man. The stream of people around them are lost in their own little worlds as Taemin weaves all too easily between them.  
  
“YAH, Lee Taemin!!”

-

It’s the first time in a long time, from what Jonghyun can remember, that he’s alone with Taemin somewhere where there aren’t eyes following their every move. There’s something addictively freeing about the lack of cameras, the way people’s eyes slide right past them, not registering their faces, even as Jonghyun and Taemin's voices take jumps to unreasonable octaves, their excitement playing off of one another. 

It only makes sense somehow that the very first place Taemin would want to take him, knowing they’re alone and free, an ocean away from fame, would be the grocery store. It makes just as much sense as the ridiculous Lamborghini Taemin had rented for the three days that the younger was working in the states. It was extravagant in a way that Lee Taemin was so very much not, and the unjustified spontaneity suited him all too perfectly. Jonghyun didn’t claim to be able to explain it, but then like most things he adored about Taemin, trying to explain it was rhetoric. 

“Seriously Jonghyunnie, you could feed a family of five on this thing!”  
  
It’s well into midday in a part of Los Angeles Jonghyun is far from familiar with. They're on a time frame, Taemin has an mv to prep for, and Jonghyun himself was only there for the span of a day and a half. He had his own meetings to be getting to, connections to be making back at SM’s studio. Instead they were standing here in the middle of a supermarket, where the complete lack of attention they were getting was most unusual. It was the most normal Jonghyun had felt in a very long time. Taemin was happily prattling on about the sheer ‘ _ size of the fruit hyung, just look at them _’, all while pushing grapefruit, and peaches larger than Jonghyun had ever seen into his hands.

Taemin looked nothing short of ridiculous, standing there in the produce section of some obscure grocery store deep in the heart of LA, sunglasses pushed high up on his head, holding his chin length hair back from his face. Grinning like a kid in a candy store, an orange held in each hand, the size of them dwarfing his already tiny fingers. Jonghyun can’t help but guffaw at the sight, crumpling over, and near falling onto the linoleum floor. The reaction pulls laughter from Taemin himself riddled with ‘what’, ‘Jjong what??’, drawing the most attention from strangers they'd had since Jonghyun touched down.

There’s this steady well of adoration blooming in Jonghyun’s chest seeing Taemin so open and relaxed, so free. He’s not sure how or when this all started to come to a head, but it’s been a long time coming. Theres these bits of Jonghyun so afraid that Taemin is going to outgrow him, these little anxieties that have been poking holes in his confidence in them, in their potential future together. The lack of line drawn around what they are to one another, only serving to dig his worries deeper, emotions always getting the better of late nights spent alone. 

It’s not as if Taemin wouldn’t tell him if he asked, Jonghyun knows this. Knows perfectly well how open Taemin is for him when Jonghyun gets him alone, takes the time to gently pick his mind. It’s exactly that which has been working against Jonghyun lately. They’ve both got big things happening, big things coming, and it's so easy to feel the distance between them. Being in love was secondary, it was there, and it was important, but Jonghyun felt himself, just as much as he knew Taemin did, that except in rare moments, love took the backstage to what was the rest of their busy lives. 

Taemin has never been forwards with his emotions without prompting, and Jonghyun teeters on the fear of just where Taemin's heart might be sitting as of late.

It all seems so silly now though, loitering here in the middle of the cereal aisle, Taemin so close Jonghyun can feel his body heat, smell the warmth of sweat and LA summer on his skin. Jonghyun's body is alight where Taemin is pressing a box of cereal to Jonghyun’s chest, keeping their bodies connected. 

The tension between them is as thick as it is sudden, making Jonghyun’s heart flutter in his throat as Taemin’s eyes linger on his flight chapped lips. He wants it. Jonghyun wants so badly to be able to lean in and close the space between them, but it’s a risk even in a city, in a country unknown. Yet still Jonghyun stands there, sure his body is vibrating with the tension of it, knowing too well that if Taemin was to breach the gap, that he himself wouldn’t be able to stop. Self control too easily unravelled, scandals be damned.

Taemin has always had this unique ability to make Jonghyun’s whole world come to an abrupt halt, stopping the whirl of life around him dead. Jonghyun has long since accepted he’ll never know how the younger does it, nor will he seemingly ever be able to control it. It’s dangerous the hold Taemin has on him. More than anything though, Jonghyun hopes Taemin never hits go, never decides to start it again. He'd stay here, caught in this moment together forever if he could.

Taemin’s eyelashes look soft as they brush over his cheeks, his lids low, and his lips thick as they hover. It’s a page over the store intercom that breaks them apart, Taemin’s hand leaving the box of cereal as he jumps, eyes wide, the startled cuss that leaves Jonghyun punctuated by prompt laughter from Taemin. Korean spit loudly at Taemin’s back as Taemin shuffles his way down the aisle, his amusement clear in every feature.

-

Whatever Taemin has said for the past few sentences is lost on Jonghyun. He’s sure that if he really tried, if he pulled up the backtrack of the past few moments, he could figure it out, but his mind is far from feeling a need. 

Nerves have Taemin rambling nearly non-stop as he drives, his small hands shifting up and down the steering wheel in a habit Jjong knows he only does when work is at the forefront of his mind. Jonghyun’s head is tilted back against the well formed head rest of the lambo, the soft blow of the air conditioning gentle and relaxing over his face, dancing strands of his hair through the air. Jonghyun knows he’s staring but figures Taemin is far past the point of being used to it by now. Jonghyun wear a soft, warm, lazy smile on thick lips, eyes crinkled at the sides as he simply takes Taemin in.  
  
“Jonghyun.”

It’s a statement, not a question, and it pulls Jonghyun from deep within his train of thought. It's only then that Jonghyun comes to notice that they’ve come to a stop in a line of traffic. Sitting a few cars back from the intersection, the line of red lights in front of them holding up the cars around them. Jonghyun re-associates himself with the present moment, his pulse picking up two fold at the look on Taemin’s face. 

Taemin has never been good at hiding his thoughts and emotions at the best of times, even less so from Jonghyun, and this is one look Jonghyun is intimately familiar with. His gaze is hooded, his lips slightly parted, eyes dark, already focused on Jonghyun’s mouth. Taemin's gaze flits back up to Jonghyun's big brown eyes, though only for a moment.  
  
“Kiss me.” 

Taemin’s request is barely a murmur above the music playing softly from the stereo surrounding them. It’s all the invitation Jonghyun needs, leaning in with a shameful lack of hesitance, considering the sea of cars around them. The steady patter of Jonghyun's heart against his ribcage, and the quirk of a smirk on Taemin’s lips, is as much a danger as the red lights potentially turning green. 

Taemin meets him halfway, the mischief on his face ebbing away for a look that makes Jonghyun's insides curl. He's normally so careful, they're normally so careful, but there's nothing cautious in the way Jonghyun closes the distance between their lips. Their noses bump, Jonghyun's lips airplane dry, in contrast to how soft Taemin's are, and Jonghyun's breath catches in his lungs. He begins to pull back, intent on keeping the kiss brief but Taemin leans in, held back only by his seatbelt as he chases after Jonghyun's lips.

He's helpless to try to deny Taemin, can't stop the small pleased sound that escapes from his chest, elated as Taemin steals another kiss, melting easily into the way Taemin licks his way into his mouth. 

The loud sound of horns blaring behind them startles Jonghyun back to reality, jerking back from the kiss at the sound. He hadn't even realized the world had come to a complete standstill, Taemin brilliant at making him forget everything else around. Taemin knows it too, if the mischievous smile glittering his eyes says anything at all.

“That's us.”

Taemin says nonchalantly, as if they were next on a radio show, not making out in the middle of an intersection. Jonghyun smacks his shoulder, cussing him out as Taemin bursts into laughter. As Taemin presses just a little too casually on the gas, disregarding any words Jonghyun has for his antics, there's one thing Jonghyun knows for sure:

Jonghyun only needs Taemin's word to know when to go.


End file.
